Lawsuit: Gaines Twp. facility negligent in woman’s death

This is an archived article and the information in the article may be outdated. Please look at the time stamp on the story to see when it was last updated.

Please enable Javascript to watch this video

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - The family of a woman found dead outside an assisted care facility in October 2016 has filed a negligence of care lawsuit against the facility.

Kathryn Brackett, 85, was found frozen to death on October 27, 2016 outside the Crystal Springs facility in the 1100 block of 68th Street SE in Gaines Township. Meridian Senior Living, LLC is the parent company of the facility.

Michael Brackett of Kentwood is bring the lawsuit on behalf of the Kathryn's estate, with the help of the Sam Bernstein Law Firm. The suit alleges that the facility was negligent in its care of Kathryn.

The suit says that Kathryn had "cognitive impairments, dementia, and/or a tendency to wander," and had "expressed interest in elopement" from the facility. The suit says that she had successfully gotten out of the facility before as well, and that on October 27, she managed to escape, despite built-in safety features like automatic locking doors and alarms.

"She was permitted to leave this facility - do exactly what this facility promised would not happen multiple times and as a result died. She froze to death steps away from the front door of the facility," said attorney Mark Bernstein.